Amusement game



Sept. 19, 1939.

F. G. NICOLAUS AMUSEMENT GAME Filed May 18, 1937 Patented Sept. 19, 1939 UNITED STATES AMUSEMENT GAME.

Frank G. Nicolaus, Chicago, Ill., assignor to Raymond T. Moloney, Chicago, 111.

Application May 18, 1937, Serial No. 143,325

- a 2 Claims. (Cl. 273-122) The invention relates to an amusement game of the ball rolling type in which is provided a game board or table sloped slightly from the horizontal whereby a ball projected onto the upper end of the table from the lower end by means of a shooter or projector, gravitates down the board, as in pin ball games, to engage certain targets arranged on the table. Eventually the gravitating ball rolls to the low end of the table to be trapped in a spent ball passage where it remains until a coin released member is operated to move a shiftable shufiie member under the table to permit the trapped ball to fall through a hole in the low end of the board and into an undertrough that leads the ball to a ball lift pas sage with which is operatively associated a lifter for raising the ball onto the board or table where it will be in position once more to be projected by the shooter onto the table.

Once the ball, allotted to the player has been projected it is desirable to prevent the player, in an unauthorized manner by holding the coin release member in, to replay the ball; and to that end it is important to provide a .ball lock out means operative when the coin release member is pushed in to obstruct the ball lift passage to prevent'the lifter from being operative to lift the ball back onto the board, such lock out device being efiective While the coin release slide is pushed and held in its in position, and ineffective when said member is retracted or, in its normal outtposition. j

The main object of the invention is to provide an improved and simplified ball lift lock out device for the purpose stated.

Another object is to provide such a device automatically operative when the coin release member is held in its in position.

Still another object is to provide such a device operatively connected to the shufile member and coacting therewith in an effective manner.

Other important objects will be apparent to those skilled in this art as the disclosure is more fully made.

The invention briefly comprises a slidably mounted ball drop shufile plate slidably carried on the under side of the game table at its lower end and in guides for transverse shifting movement when the coin slide is moved to its in position to operate a bell crank connected to move the shuflie plate to permit a ball trapped on the table to drop therethrough for return to the lifter. Said shufile plate carries a lock out bar movable into the ball lift passage to prevent the lifter from raising a ball onto the table when the coin release member or slide is in its in position. When said slide is retracted to its out position a spring is effective to restore the shuffle plate and lock out bar to normal position all as will later more fully appear.

The sheet-of drawings illustrates a practicable example of the invention and in said drawings:

Figure l is a plan view of the forward end portion only of a ball rolling game;

Figure 2 is an inverted bottom plan view of the structure shown in Figure l; and,

Figure 3 is a detail, side sectional View of the ball lifter structure, taken along the line 3--3 of Figure 2, looking in the direction of the arrows.

The game comprises the usual rectangular cabinet l0 having a front wall ll and side walls [2, a glass cover l3 closing the cabinet at its top. The walls below the cover carry a game board or table [4, which is sloped slightly from the horizontal with its low end adjacent the front Wall II. A longitudinal ball projection passage is arranged in the usual manner along one side of the table l4 and the wall H carries a spring plunger type of ball shooter or projector l6 arranged in said passage to shoot a ball therealong and onto the upper end of thetable in the well known manner.

When the ball has spent its force and gravitates to the low end of the table, sloping shoulders l1 serve to direct the ball into a ball trapping passage i8 as shown, in which is a hole l9 intowhich the ball lodges. Normally the ball cannot fall through the table or board I4 by virwe of the fact a shuffle plate or panel is carried underneath the table to prevent this.

Said plate or panel 20 is substantially rectangular and is disposed in a transverse direction at the low end of the table and is mounted against the underside of the table by means of transverse, oppositely disposed, parallel guides 21 carried by the table as shown in Figure 2, the front guide being notched or broken as at 22 for a purpose to appear. The left hand portion of this plate 20, as viewed in Figure 2, along its forward edge is formed with a ball drop notch 23 adapted to register with the hole 19 so that a ball may drop through the board or table l4, and in any well known manner be received by a transversely inclined trough 24 (see Figure 3) down which the ball gravitates toward the projection side wall of the cabinet to be received in a rearwardly and upwardly curved passage or groove 25 cut in said Wall l2. By means of a lifter 26 pivotally mounted at 21 on said wall the ball may be lifted up the groove 25 and into the passage [5 to be in position to be projected by the shotter [6 in a manner well known in this art. A manually operable plunger 28 mounted in the wall ll serves to actuate the lifter 26.

Going back now to the shuffle plate 20, it can be seen in Figure 2 that the same has rigidly connected thereto, a laterally extending lock out bar 29 adapted to be moved into the groove near the upper end thereof, immediately under the board M as shown in Figure 3. The opposite end of the plate 20 is pulled by a spring 30 connected to a bracket 3| on the under side of the board M, as shown. This same end of the plate 2|! has pivotally connected to it a transversely extended link 32 having its opposite end pivotally connected to one arm of a bell crank lever 33 in turn pivotally mounted by a screw pin 34 on the underside of the board I 4. The other arm of the bell crank carries a boss 35 in longitudinal alinement with and to be abutted by, the inner end of a slidable coin release member or slide 33 carried in the usual way in the Y front wall II. This completes the detail description of the mechanism.

In the playing of the game it will be assumed that the same is idle and that a previous player 2 slide abuts the boss 35 to swing the bell crank 33 and push the link 32, which in turn shifts the plate 20 transversely in the direction of the groove 25 and against the pull of the spring 30 until the notch 23 is in registration with the hole l9 to permit the ball to drop through the board M and into the trough for return to the groove 25. At the same time the bar 29 has its free end moved over into the groove to obstruct it at a point immediately below the board I4 so that as long as the slide 36 is held in and the plate 29 is shifted over, it will be impossible to elevate the ball into shooting position. When the player retracts the slide 35 the spring 30 is operative to pull the plate 20 from the dotted line position of Figure 2 back to the normal full line position of the parts, as shown, in an obvious manner. The bar 29 is now free of the groove 25 and the lifter 26 is again effective when operated to raise the ball into shooting position on the board l4 and in the passage IS.

The notch 23 when in registration with the hole [9 is aligned with the gap 22 in the forward guide strip 2| so that the latter cannot interfere with the release of the ball.

A so-called one ball game has been shown and described but obviously more balls can be employed in immaterial variations of the present game by merely elongating the notch 23 and the pocket l8 to increase their capacity as required.

It can now be seen that an improved game mechanism has been provided which achieves all of the desirable objects heretofore recited.

It is the intention to cover herein all changes and modifications of the embodiment disclosed which do not in material respects constitute departures from the spirit and scope of the invention.

What is claimed is:

1. A ball lift passage lock out device for ball rolling games having a cabinet carrying a table, the cabinet including a ball lift passage, said device comprising a shufiie plate shiftably carried below the table and having an opening which is adapted to register with another opening formed in the table, a spring connected between the plate and table to hold said panel in a normal position with the openings out of register, means comprising a bell crank carried by the table and a link operable thereby and connected to the panel to shift the latter to bring said openings into registration, and a rigid lock out bar carried by and extending from an end of the plate to move with the plate into a position obstructing the lift passage when the said openings are in register.

2. A ball lift passage lock out device for ball rolling games having a cabinet carrying a table, the cabinet including a ball lift passage, said device comprising a shuflie plate shiftably carried below the table and having an opening which is adapted to register with another opening formed in the table, a spring connected between the plate and table to hold said panel in a normal position with the openings out of register, means comprising a bell crank carried by the table and a link operable thereby and connected to one end of the panel to shift the latter to bring said openings into registration, and a lock out bar carried by and extending from the other end of the plate and bodily movable therewith into a position obstructing the lift passage when the said openings are in register.

FRANK G. NICOLAUS. 

